Legendary ‘60s Rock Band Still Holds Album Record 50 Years Later originally appeared on Parade.
Over 50 years after its release, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon still holds one of the most impressive records in Billboard history.
The legendary 1973 album, which includes iconic tracks like “Money,” “Us and Them” and “The Great Gig in the Sky,” has spent 989 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.
Recently, The Dark Side of the Moon made a notable jump from No. 42 to No. 24 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, which only counts physical purchases.
The numbers prove fans aren’t just streaming the album — they’re still buying it in droves, even decades later.
With vinyl making a major comeback, the record also landed at No. 15 on the Vinyl Albums Chart.
In terms of overall sales, The Dark Side of the Moon continues to outshine the competition. With over 45 million copies sold worldwide, it’s surpassed classic albums like The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Michael Jackson’s Bad.
When Pink Floyd, made up of David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Roger Waters, first introduced the album in 1973, the title wasn’t guaranteed.
Another band, Medicine Head, had released an album called The Dark Side of the Moon a year earlier, nearly forcing Pink Floyd to scrap the name altogether.
“We were annoyed because we had already thought of the title before the Medicine Head album came out,” Gilmour reportedly once said.
Fortunately for Pink Floyd, Medicine Head’s version didn’t gain traction — and the iconic title was up for grabs. If things had gone differently, the album might’ve been called Eclipse, according to the guitarist.
While reflecting on the album’s lasting impact, Wright explained why it continues to resonate with fans in a 2001 interview.
“I think it is a combination of the lyrics and the feeling of some of the music with the lyrics. Obviously, that’s what makes a good song,” he said.
Adding, “I think it’s the continuity of it, this kind of whole musical and lyrical story, if you like. It all made sense and even some songs weren’t related to the other. “Money” wasn’t related to “Us and Them”, or whatever.”
Legendary ‘60s Rock Band Still Holds Album Record 50 Years Later first appeared on Parade on Jun 7, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.